Guinea pig: Android of Notre Dame

I didn't exactly know what the hell was going on since I saw this in Japanese without subs, but from what I could piece together the plot involved a dwarf scientist trying to find a way to bring his dying girlfriend back to a healthy physical state. Along the way he does lots of bizarre and graphic experiments on naked women (and he always nods his head after doing *ANYTHING*) and holds some guy captive who apparently tried to sucker him out of a business deal. The movie was certainly interesting to watch, and as with the rest of the series the special effects were for the most part phenomenal; but it just wasn't as gritty, humorous, or disgusting as the other GUINEA PIG films. However, I still feel that it's a worthy effort.

Android of Notre Dame is third Guinea Pig movie, the first is Devil's Experiment and second is Flowers of Flesh and Blood, and these first two are the sickest in the series. Mermaid in a Manhole is fourth, and the rest of the series I can't remember clearly in which order they have been made. Anyway, Android of Notre Dame is no better than the others, and it isn't particularly disgusting either, and that is a achievement when we're talking about Guinea Pig films! A funny looking dwarf tries to save his beautiful sister from a deadly disease by using dead girls as guinea pigs for his experiments. The experiments on dead girls are pretty vile, but dull too. They don't shock too much even though the film tries it very much. The severed head reminds me of Re-Animator but that's all these films have in common. The acting is again non existent and the film was pretty hard to sit through for the second time, even though the film runs only slightly over one hour. The scene in which the dwarf tears off his victims/guinea pig's ribs with sound effects, is perhaps the most disgusting scene in the film, but it is also very stupidly made and the make up effects look as realistic as ketchup flying to the wall.

Android of Notre Dame is one of the worst shock intended movies I've seen and the most trifling part in the series because it offers absolutely nothing significant for the viewer. Japanese cinema fans will probably check this out, and so did I, but the expectations shouldn't be too high, and that applies to the whole series, too. Even the first two are not as sick as they could have been, but they are still very rough and mean spirited. Watch if you think you're interested in this kind of sicko cinema.

I have seen all "Guinea Pig" movies and "Android of Notre Dame" is surely nothing special.It's definitely not as shocking as "Devil's Experiment" or "Flowers of Flesh and Blood".There is a reasonable amount of blood and gore,but the action is pretty dull.The film is neither funny nor disgusting.Anyway "Android of Notre Dame" is about Japanese dwarf who is trying to bring his girlfriend back to life by inserting various machine parts into her body...So if you're a fan of "Guinea Pig" series give this one a look,just don't expect something really repellent.5 out of 10.

This is actually part 3.Blame Thomas Weisser for his useful but highly innacurate Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia,this is where lots of mistakes like this originate.The first two entries (on Midnight Video) in this series are DEVIL'S EXPERIMENT and FLOWERS OF FLESH AND BLOOD.This entry (which is curiously also called GUINEA PIG 2 in Japan) is from a completely different video company (JHV).You can tell because this is where the series switched from thoughtful and detailed meditations on sadistic behaviour (although you'd have to be an idiot like Charlie Sheen to really think it's snuff) to camp gore comedies like this. Toshihiko Hino (who can be spotted as a torturer in the first ZERO WOMAN-not the one available on Japan Shock video as Zero Woman,that's actually ZERO WOMAN 2) is a dwarf scientist trying to find a cure for his terminally ill girlfriend.He experiments on naked women.Parts are funny,and it's easy to sit through at only 50 minutes.Director Kuramoto is also responsible for the first two SEX BEAST ON CAMPUS sequels

Another daft entry in the extremely gory Japanese Guinea Pig series, The Android of Notre Dame sees a demented dwarf scientist attempting to discover a way to save his terminally-ill sister.

When a mysterious stranger contacts the little guy offering to sell him a female body for use as a 'guinea pig', it looks as though he might be on the verge of a breakthrough—but he botches the experiment and, in a fit of rage, mutilates the corpse (repeatedly stabbing it in the chest with a scalpel).

Soon after, the stranger turns up on the wee fellow's doorstep, once again offering a corpse in exchange for money. This time, however, the scientist decides not to pay for his next cadaver—killing the visitor instead (by removing his legs with a buzz-saw booby trap), and using his re-animated severed head in a series of tests.

Eventually, the girlfriend of the dead guy comes looking for her beau, but also becomes a victim of the dwarf, thus providing him with a suitable body into which he can finally transplant his sister's 'consciousness'.

A rather tongue-in-cheek effort, Android of Notre Dame is far removed from the first two Guinea Pig movies, which attempted to be as nasty and as realistic as possible: this one features lots of hokey gore and unconvincing surgical procedures (including a particularly messy scene featuring rough 'n' ready rib removal) which make it a fairly entertaining experience for those who like their horror rather twisted and laden with blood, but not in the least bit disturbing.

As far as I am concerned, mad dwarfs, gratuitous violence and naked women always make a film watchable, so I wouldn't consider AOND to be a complete waste of 51 minutes, but those expecting anything quite as horrific as Flowers of Flesh and Blood (Guinea Pig 2) will be rather disappointed.